Garden Update No. 1

Last week, we finally got to plant our veggies!  

We are a wee bit late but better late than never.  Here is a list of what we planted:

~Black Krim Tomatoes

~Cherry Tomatoes

~Early Treat Tomatoes

~Carrots

~Ceasar’s Lettuce blend

~Baby Red Lettuce blend

~Poblano peppers

~Anaheim peppers

~Tomatillos

~Eggplant

~Serrano peppers

~Bell Peppers

~Habanero peppers

~Cucumbers

~Summer Squash

~Zucchini

~Watermelon

~Peas

~Cantaloupe

~Pumpkins

~Fennel

~Okra

Wow!  I didn’t realize how much we actually planted until I wrote it down!  Our raspberries are coming in nicely and I am starting to think that we need to plant a different strawberry plant next year, as we only have a few plants with fruit (but squirrels or rabbits always eat them before I get to them anyways). 

No sprouts from the seeds yet but I’m hoping to see some in the next 4-5 days.  Our seedlings are acclimating well. 

I wish we had put in a watering system but maybe that will be next year’s project for the garden. 

Our peonies have popped and instead of having them fall to the ground outside, I cut a few stems and made an arrangement for our kitchen! 

I also noticed this amazing rainbow while I was trying to get some pictures of the newly planted veggies.  The pictures really do not do this rainbow justice; I'm pretty sure this was the most amazing one I have ever seen.  It was almost turning into a quadruple rainbow.

We have ONE whole peach growing on our peach tree!  I’m actually pretty surprised we have the one due to that May 1^st snow storm.  I was noticing a lot of ants crawling around that tree about 2 weeks ago but when we got home from our trip, I found all these little ladybugs instead… and no more ants!

 

I love being outside but with the temps soaring so early this year, I'm not quite sure how much I will be able to soak up the sun.  At least there are early mornings and late nights that I can appreciate!

Happy Gardening!

37th Monthiversary - Gaia bistro and Glacier Gelato

We woke up to a sunny day on May 2^nd and were finally able to uncover our peach tree and saw little glimpses of Spring start to come back from our May 1^st snowstorm.  I made some French toast in the morning and we hung around the house trying to figure out where to go for dinner that night.  

This pregnancy hasn’t been the easiest for me to try anything new so finding a restaurant isn’t the easiest task and it usually takes quite some doing.   We decided to go to a little place on Old Pearl Street in Denver, Gaia Bistro.  This place is known for their brunch and outdoor dining experience, which we have yet to try but is on our list for the summer.  It just started serving dinner earlier this year.  Lucky us!

Walking up to the restaurant, you feel like you’re visiting an old friend.  Their ambience is very inviting.  They have about 12 tables on the patio but all are separated from the street by a picket fence and the garden in front secludes the tables from each other.

We were the first ones in the restaurant that evening and we were offered a table outside or in.  We opted for inside because the temperature had dipped.  The cook was cutting up ingredients in the open kitchen in the back as we were seated at a nice little table in front of a window. The menu is very eclectic ranging from Ceviche to Caribbean spiced chicken.   Water and bread were brought promptly.  The bread was very good and I think it came from the bakery down the street. Local, Local, Local!

I had looked at the menu online and really wanted to try their Green Chili Cheesecake with tortilla crisps.  I am so glad we got that as an appetizer.  It came out a bubbly, cheesy goodness in a very appealing arrangement.  To say the least, we didn’t leave a crumb.

For dinner, I ordered the Stuffed Poblano with black beans, red peppers, red and green chili, and crème fraiche.   I always forget to snap a picture before taking a bite but I will work on that.  It was very good and reminded me a meal we had in Palisade, CO.

Mike had the Bacon Wrapped Shrimp with Polenta cakes and a spinach cream sauce.  I think the only complaint here was that there weren’t more shrimp!

The food, ambience, and service were all very good.   

Walking out of the restaurant, I took a little tour of the grounds.  I was delighted to see in their “backyard,” two large garden boxes.  I love when restaurants grow some of their own food!

We opted to forgo dessert at the restaurant but ended up going to a new Gelato place near our house.

Glacier just opened up in February of this year and it has been a big hit with the neighborhood.  They offer you as many samples as you please but it is very hard to make decision from the, at least, 40 flavors they have, which also change daily.  I opted for the Caramel Straticella in a cone and Mike, who had a difficult time deciding, had Sea Salt Caramel Vanilla in a waffle cone!  

Yummy, yum, YUM!  I would recommend any of these eateries to Denverites.  We will definitely be back to Glacier and will have brunch this summer at Gaia.

7 Simple Ways to Celebrate Earth Day!

Today is Earth day!  If it weren’t snowing we would probably be building our garden boxes.  But instead we are going to have a meatless Earth day Monday. 

Here are 7 simple ways you could celebrate Earth Day today:

1) Plant something.  Plant a tree, plant some flowers, or start a small balcony garden.

 

You could even reap the benefits by growing your own food.
Those peaches were grown from our baby peach tree and were the
best peaches I have ever had!

2) Go Meatless today.  This Earth day falls on a Monday.  Monday has been coined “Meatless Monday” by many health and environmental activists.  Or Make a pledge here to go meatless every Monday.

3) If you live in a place with nicer weather, don’t use your car.  Bike, walk, or use public transit today.  

Plus you get some exercise!

4) Go for a hike and celebrate with nature today!

5) Start Recycling.  Most trash companies offer recycling services at low or no cost.  

6) Go to a local farmer's market and support your state by buying locally.  Support your environment by buying organic when possible.

7) Use your reusable bags when grocery shopping!

You don’t have to go extravagant to make a change in the world.  Remember, many small changes can make a huge change!  And don't just make Earth Day your only day to make a difference, make a pledge to keep it going year round!

Happy Earth Day!

This will be my first recipe so bear with me! 

Since this is one of my vegetarian recipes and even though I am not a vegetarian anymore, I would still like to share some of my story and journey on this topic. 

I first started cutting meat out of my diet about 6 or 7 years ago.  I gave up red meat for lent one year and have still yet to go back to it.  I felt healthier, was able to lose some of those pesky “freshman 15” pounds, and it was a nice change for me.  That is the year I started running and also started my garden.  As time went by, I decided to cut pork out of my diet and soon after it was chicken and fish.  It sort of just happened that I became a vegetarian. 

I started reading and becoming more educated on the treatment of animals in our meat industry.  I won’t go into detail here but I will say that knowing what I know will probably make me remain off of beef and pork the rest of my life.  

My family was the biggest obstacle when it came to my vegetarianism.  They were brought up meat and potato style, as was I, so they didn’t really understand why and even how I was vegetarian.  But even with their concerns and criticism, I remained vegetarian for quite awhile.  I liked the lifestyle that it created for me and it also allowed me to find out more about myself.  It made me get in tune with my body more as well as helped with my running.    

During that time, I experimented with many new recipes.  It was so new and fun to come up with a healthy, vegetarian dish that tasted really good.  I had to think outside of the box when cooking and sometimes I would just throw ingredients together and sometimes it would work out, other times it didn’t.

I was, however, not able to keep up with the amount of nutrients that I needed and as time went by I felt a bit malnourished and I kept losing weight.  I also knew I wanted to eventually become pregnant.  I know it is definitely possible to be vegan/vegetarian during pregnancy but it was something I didn't really want to pay that much attention to or worry about.  So, as of now, chicken and fish are back in my diet.  

I still like eating vegetarian 2-3 times a week and I have many vegetarian dishes that are staples for Mike and I.  One of those dishes is my vegetarian lasagna.  I don’t know how many versions of this I have tried over the years but I finally came up this winner!

Quite tired of the snow and ready for Spring weather!

It was a cold and snowy day yesterday and I asked Mike if he would rather BBQ chicken or lasagna. I was secretly hoping he would say chicken because it was a bit of an easier dinner.  He said lasagna sounded good!  So I made lasagna and I thanked him for picking it when we sat down to eat dinner!  It is just so yummy!

First, bring a big pot of salted water to a boil and cook lasagna noodles as instructed on packaging. 

Cut up the veggies and heat about a tablespoon of olive in a sauté pan.  Put all the veggies in and cook them until they are soft.  Add in the tablespoon of marinara, ½ teaspoon of salt,  ½ tsp of black pepper, and ½ tsp each of dried rosemary, oregano, and basil. I use a good organic jarred marinara.  But if you're up to it... homemade is always best.

Add enough marinara to the cover the bottom of the pan that you will be baking the lasagna in.  It helps keep the noodles from sticking. 

Assesmble the lasagna.  Noodles, ricotta, salt and pepper (if so desired), ½ of the veggies, marinara, cheese.  Repeat.  Once the third layer of noodles are laid down, cover them in marinara and a good amount of cheese.

When Mike is home he usually watches me cook.  Always asking what he can do, but I usually say nothing because I am a control freak when it comes to cooking.  So he took this picture of me assembling the lasagna.

Cover with aluminum and pop in 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes and then uncover for another 30 minutes or until the cheese is golden.

ENJOY! 

   

Vegetarian Lasagna                                                                                Ingredients 9  Lasagna noodles 1  Tbsp olive oil 1  medium zucchini (1/4” chopped) 1  medium bell pepper (1/4” chopped)                      1  cup of steamed and strained spinach 1  jar of good marinara sauce ½ tsp salt ½ tsp black pepper ½ tsp dried rosemary ½ tsp dried oregano 1  tsp  dried basil or ½ cup fresh ½ cup of good part-skim ricotta cheese ¾ cup of parmesan cheese 3  cups of mozzarella cheese Directions 1.     Cook noodle according to package directions 2.     Heat olive oil in sauté pan 3.     Combine bell pepper, zucchini, and spinach and sauté in olive oil until soft 4.     Put 1 Tbsp of marinara and next 5 ingredients into the veggie mix and heat for about 30 seconds 5.     Put 1 Tbsp of marinara on the bottom of the pan you will use to bake lasagna in 6.     Assemble lasagna – Lay 3 noodles down, ¼ cup of ricotta, ½ of the veggie mixture, ½ cup of marinara, ¼ parmesan, and 1 cup mozzarella.  Repeat. 7.     On the last layer of noodles, cover with remainder of marinara, parmesan, and mozzarella 8.     Bake covered in a 350° oven for 30 minutes and then uncovered for an additional 30 minutes or until cheese and golden. http://www.realdailyliving.blogspot.com