Garden Progress: Mid July

My garden has come a long way since my beginning of June update! For some there is good news and for others not such good news. I realize for consistency I should show the same plants as my June post, but here's what's happening right now!

Towards the start of the season I got some oddly shaped cucumbers. This is due to the flowers not being completely pollinated, but luckily they taste fine and pollination seems to have picked up now that they plants are taller.

This was my only purchased cherry tomato plant. Plants I started from seed have tomatoes but aren't ripe yet. I love yellow tomatoes so much more than red varieties!

Tragically, this was my last zucchini. Squash vine borer beetle murdered both my zucchini and yellow squash plants! Next year I must find a way to stop them. 

The pepper are loving the heat are are getting all happy and leafy. Hoping to see some buds soon. We have scorpion, ghost, habenero, thai chilli, red and green bell, and two mystery peppers in pots on the deck.

Last year I planted carrots way too late and close together. I should Google when to harvest them. I hope they're carroting under there...

Thai dragon is my only purchased pepper plant. I suppose eventually they turn red but they're pretty damn hot already!

I think Kale chips are coming this weekend. XOXO!

This is my one and only ear of corn. Probably about ready to harvest. All my corn plants popped up, but less than half survived. I'll start the indoors next year.

I spotted a cantaloupe! It's about the size of a softball. So cute!

Hm, what else did I post about last time? Beans and peas are wild. I pick them everyday while dodging the Japanese beetles that have moved in this year. They don't seem to be deterring the plants though. The garlic was harvested about a week ago and is curing on my front porch! Basil of course is wild, both purple and sweet. Waiting for more tomatoes to start making caprese salads. I'm pinching flowers off my strawberry plants this year to make them stronger for next year, so they're just hanging out gathering their energy hopefully. The borage I planted as a companion plant is ginormous and not flowering so I'm mad at it. Plus is spiny. 

Anyone else have a garden?!?!

Buckwheat Blueberry Pancakes = Breakfast Superfood

Some hobbies seem seasonal for me. So it's been super quiet around here, but my girls from my stitch and bitch group have been asking about my blog. So I'm going to try to get back in the saddle with it.

Particularly, someone asked to see pictures of my garden. I have a chocolate wild raspberry pie in the oven right now, so as soon as that's out I'll head outside to take photos. Until then, I have a buckwheat blueberry pancake recipe for you. Yay!

A few weeks ago I spotted soba noodles in the grocery store and realized soba noodles are a great summer dish because they're served cold. Then I learned that buckwheat (which is what soba noodles are made of) is super healthy for you. So now I'm on a buckwheat bender.

I found this recipe on Mayo Clinic (figured I couldn't go wrong there). And added some blueberries for extra anti-oxidant boost. Ugh, I'm so healthy I annoy myself sometimes. Completely different from me in highschool or college where I ate Poptarts and Oreos every day. I do miss them.

Anyway, this batter is fun because it looks like wet sand when you're mixing it! But they came out really tasty. I usually use honey on my pancakes, which makes them extra tasty and is also really good for you!

Buckwheat Blueberry Pancakes

Adapted from MayoClinic (head over there for nutritional information)

2 egg whites (substitute 1/2 cup applesauce and make it vegan!)

1 tablespoon canola oil

1/2 cup almond milk

1/2 cup white whole wheat flour

1/2 cup buckwheat flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 cup water

Fresh blueberries

1. Preheat griddle or pan.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg whites, canola oil and milk.
3. In another bowl, combine the flours, baking powder and sugar. 
4. Add the egg white mixture and the water and stir until slightly moistened.
5. Drop 1/3 cups of batter into pan.
6. Drop blueberries on to each pancake as it cooks.
7. Cook about two minutes on each side.

When ever we make pancakes I store them in tupperware with wax paper in between to reheat and eat all week. Or, I store them in plastic bags with wax paper in between and freeze them. You can heat them up in the toaster oven or microwave.

French Toast All Week Long!

If I can, I like to try to get ahead on the weekends as far as meal planning goes. So yesterday at the first farmers market of the season, I purchased a loaf of raisin bread and this morning I sliced it all up to make french toast sticks!

I'll keep them in the freezer and Dave and I will heat them up in the toaster oven all week for breakfast. Also if you're one of those psychos who eats breakfast in your car on your way to work, these are a good grab-and-go meal.

Not like anyone needs a recipe for french toast, but here's how I made mine!

French Toast Sticks

1 8 inch round loaf of rustic bread

4 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Slice the bread into about 3/4 - 1 inch slices. Then slice them in half length-wise, then again width-wise so you get 3 - 4 inch sticks... You know what I mean, just slice the bread.
2. Preheat skillet over low medium heat on the stove.
3. Add the eggs, vanilla, and cinnamon to a nice wide bowl and beat together.
4. Dredge each slice of bread in the egg mixture and place in the pan. 
5. Let cook about 1 - 2 minutes on each side.
6. Serve with honey or syrup.

I made a nifty fruit salad to go with mine for breakfast today.

Garden Progress: Beginning of June

It's been a slow start for my garden this year. Starting seeds under my new grow lights for the first time didn't give me the boost I expected, and we had frost warnings right up until the week after Mother's Day.

Here are the good parts so far!

Sometimes I Make Awesome Salads

Not Abandoned! Have a Smoothie Recipe

Oh dear. I sort of fell off the blogging cliff in the past few months.

Sometimes hobbies are sort of seasonal for me. And sometimes I get discouraged because I set goals for  myself, then I don't make them, and then I sort of give up for awhile. It happens to everyone I suppose. Though for hobbies which are supposed to be fun, I don't think I need to hold myself as accountable as I have been.

We'll see how that goes for awhile.

Anyway, since I'm here, I have a smoothie recipe to share. Smoothies are my favorite mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack. I got into them because it was a sneaky way to make myself eat fruit. I like making them with frozen fruit because I like icy-ness in my smoothies, and I usually make them with soy milk or yogurt for extra protein.

Serving size: A little under 12 oz

1/2 large banana (peeled and sliced)

1 medium peach (cut up, with skin, it's where the good stuff is)

1/2 cup frozen mango chunks

1/3 cup soy milk (normal, not vanilla or any of that sugary stuff)

Pop everything in your blender. Blend blend blend!

Pour into a 12 oz glass and enjoy!

Follow the jump for nutritional facts!

Birthday

I started out trying to do a photo a hour post for my birthday like I did last year. But that proved to be too ambitious for me. So here's how the day looked through my iPhone.

  

8:00 am. Woke up, walked the dog, fed the dog, fed the rabbit, fed myself. Like any other morning but it was quite mild and bright out that morning. Especially for my birthday, of course.

9:00: am. Getting ready.

10:00 am. Doing garden planning things for awhile.

And then I was off to meet S&B friends for awesome vegetarian brunch!

After brunch we stopped by a vegan cupcake shop where my awesome S&B friends got me a cupcake to snack on later.

With snacks taken care of, we headed over the Lion Brand Outlet for an afternoon of shopping and stitching. It's like a magical yarn candy land! It was my first time there and I was so impressed with the selection and pricing!

After S&B time I headed off to my parents house where Dave met us for family birthday dinner where I was sadly reminded that I turned...

Oy! Yup... I've brideged up to the latter half of our 20 & 30-something Stitch & Bitch group. (In case you think I'm already losing my mind, "bridging up" is what happens in Girl Scouts when you go from Brownie to Junior, Junior to Cadette, etc. I was into Girl Scouts for a long time. Now you've learned something, you're welcome.)

My mom made me a carrot cake from scratch! I'm so proud of her!

I don't really feel any different. I can't say I'm nostalgic for my 20's or sad to see them go. Upward and onward!