A Salad [or two] a Day

In our household we eat according to what's in season. Not only does it provide a nice variety of fresh, healthy foods to our table in the course of a year, but it's sure easy on the wallet. 

Our goal each year is to stay as far from the grocery store as possible. We keep that in mind when we plan our garden... hence it being extra large in size! Last winter was a pretty good success trying to live off what we had stored up from the summer (Although potatoes were starting to get a little boring around April). When I did make it to the store, it was for little things that would enhance what we already had. (Things like sour cream and butter, or a treat of mushrooms) Both husband and I look back with satisfaction that our labor from the summer paid off by feeding our family well all through the winter months. 

Now that garden season is in full swing once again, we have a delicious selection of fresh to choose from. Several months ago my husband told me he didn't care if he eats salad every day, he just wants to eat as much good, natural food as possible. When it came time to plant the garden, we decided to plant heavy on the lettuce and plan on eating salad every day while it produces. Sounded good to me! Easy meal planning! I don't have to wonder what to make for supper, I just have to make sure and have enough lettuce washed and all that's left to do is have fun and come up with ideas for toppings. Our favorite add-ons to a nice bowl of lettuce is boiled eggs and roasted sunflower seeds. It just makes a salad sooo yummy. Of course we don't stop there. The nice thing about salad is that it is very versatile. You can add whatever vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, meat or cheese you want! It makes it easy to switch up. You can change out your dressings for a new flavor, too! 

We've been enjoying it so much that we both eat a salad twice a day. We're not the least bit vegetarian and I have to be sure to get enough protein being pregnant, so last night's salad was accompanied by a little side of steak. My lunch today (pictured) was topped with dried cranberries, roasted sunflower seeds, pecans, a light sprinkling of parmesan, and some homemade balsamic vinaigrette.

Baked Beans

My sister and brother-in-law called me earlier today to invite themselves over for a couple hours this evening. They said they'll bring the steaks to grill, so... there's no turning them down. They live a couple of hours away and were going to be almost in the area anyway, so we take them as visitors whenever they happen to be around!

I decided I'm going to make a few dishes to go along with the meal. Baked beans. They just sounded good to me. I don't know if it's because it was lunch time, because I'm pregnant, or if that's just what I have on hand and it goes well with meat, but they sure sounded appetizing. The problem was I didn't feel like a had a ton of time to prepare them so I decided to skip a step and not use a recipe. It's too much work finding one I think I might like! Besides that, a quick trip to Pinterest told me that most people's bean recipes call for canned pork and beans. Can somebody tell me why? I thought pork+beans was basically pre made baked beans? I guess it doesn't make sense to me. I generally only have raw simple ingredients on hand, so my only option was to start from dry beans. 

I didn't measure the beans. I said I was just going to throw something together, so I poured in what I thought might be enough, added water, and started cooking. Meanwhile I mixed a few random ingredients that I thought might be good in baked beans. Homemade ketchup, molasses, maple syrup, dry mustard, and salt. When the beans had finished cooking I reserved the bean liquid, salted the beans, mixed in my concoction, added some chopped onion, and poured enough bean juice back in to reach the desired consistency. Of course I taste tested them to make sure I was satisfied. A couple spoonfuls later I decided it not only was good enough, but I didn't make as much as I should've. I'm sure I consumed my portion already. I had to stick them in the oven to bake pretty quick just to keep my spoon from dipping back in. I have the oven set somewhere between 325-350* and plan to bake them for 3 hours. It really helps the flavors blend when you bake them over a longer amount of time. You just need to make sure they don't dry out in the process.

Now to torture myself with the aromas floating from the kitchen for the next hour or two. 

I think the no recipe was a success, but we'll have to wait for the final taste post-baking to double check. ;) This is how I cook. It's no wonder after being married over a year my husband still told people I hardly made the same dish twice!

Fresh Peas

One thing both my husband and I have a strong dislike for is peas. In all the years of being married he has never had to worry that I would include them at mealtime. They just don't belong and that's that.

But ... this very same vegetable is one of my favorite things to find in a garden. I could sit in the pea patch and feast on them! I don't know why my tastebuds like them so much raw but can't handle them when cooked. Anyhow, my gracious loving husband lets me use part of the garden to grow them. This year I planted an entire row and worried that it wouldn't be enough. I was filled with excitement when I saw the first buds, and was out there munching the second I found a full grown pod. Almost every day since, I've been out there looking for more. In fact today I actually brought a pile of them into the house before they were devoured! I had been looking forward to letting Adam try something new from our very own produce and today cooked some up for him. I was actually surprised when he liked them and ate every bit I had prepared! Though I was struggling for fresh air while feeding him, I'm so grateful he'll eat them! (He isn't fond of the other food hubby and I mutually agree against: oatmeal)

So yeah... that's one of my weird quirks. Cooked peas are a huge no-no. But bring them on fresh.